Shopping for Native Plants
American Beauties makes it easy to find native plants
Finding retail garden centers that sell native plants has become easier with a new website. Read today's article to learn more about American Beauties.
Two northeast wholesale growers, Pride's Corner Farm and North Creek Nurseries, are the forces behind a native plant website. American Beauties promotes using native plants in the garden. Gardeners can easily select native plants that will grow in their landscape with the website's help of photos, plant information, growing and maintenance tips, and garden designs. For gardeners in the northeast, finding a retail garden center close by that sells natives is a breeze by typing in the zip code.
A portion of each purchase benefits the National Wildlife Federation and their projects.
Although I am not familiar with Pride's Corner Farm, a couple of years ago I met Dale Hendricks of North Creek Nurseries. He was in town to speak at a native plant symposium. A mutual friend got a group together, Dale included, to go out after the symposium's dinner. We spent the evening telling stories, some of them about plants, and laughing. Dale is very passionate about native plants and I'm excited about this project he is undertaking.
Kate Copsey has a thought provoking article on using native plants in the garden - Planting Native Plants. Over the years, I have included some native plants in my gardens. In one garden I have an Arrowwood Viburnum, Big Bluestem, Ironweed and Asters. This combination is beautiful in the late summer and fall. With our recent run of several days at 100 plus degrees, it's nice to know there are some plants in my garden that don't have to be pampered. They have deep roots that can handle the hot dry days of summer. As a matter of fact, they are holding up much better than I am.
Resources:
Click on Plants and Bulbs for more articles by Susan Mertz.
